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There is little in the way of ethnicity. Ashkenazi Jews are an ethnicity, Jews in general, aren't. They even spoke different languages before Hebrew became a th
by anovikov 9y ago
There is little in the way of ethnicity. Ashkenazi Jews are an ethnicity, Jews in general, aren't. They even spoke different languages before Hebrew became a thing in early XX century, and many of them still do.
- umanwizard 9y ago“Ethnicity” is a pretty broad and vague term. People don’t have to speak the same language or be the same race to consider themselves the same ethnicity.
- vasilipupkin 9y agoit's not as vague as you think. Ashkenazi Jews literally share a lot of genetic material, for example, when two Ashkenazi Jews get married and want to have a child, they get tested for genetic diseases that only Ashkenazi Jews have.
- jklinger410 9y agoLook up the definition of ethnicity. I think you mean "race."
- vasilipupkin 9y agono, I don't mean race. An ethnic group, or an ethnicity, is a category of people who identify with each other based on similarities such as common ancestry, language, society, culture or nation common ancestry - genes.
- your-nanny 9y agoI would dispute the notion of common ancestry is synonymous with common transfer of genes. The former is about descent, within a system of kinship, that may or may not recognize within it's domain an actual realized transfer of genes on the one hand, and may include in it's domain instances when no such transfer might have occurred (adoption/cuckoldry/politically motivated claims of kinship/etc.etc.).
- vasilipupkin 9y agocome on, you are engaging in pointless sophistry. Common ancestry doesn't mean that it involves 100% guaranteed common transfer of genes every time - it just means that common transfer of genes was quite likely to take place at least relatively often. In the case of Ashkenazi Jews, we know it did.
- jklinger410 9y agoI'm just trying to point out that you don't have to share genes with an ethnic group to belong to it.
- vasilipupkin 9y agothis is not about "have to" or "don't have to", but about likelihood. Likelihood is high enough that they do genetic testing on ashkenazi jews.
- kolpa 9y agoAnd a lot of people (people who think they are Jews and also people who think they are non-Jews) are genetically mixed Ashkenazi with non-Ashkenazi. And Ashkenazi happens one of the "tightest" ethnicities in the connected part of the modern world (Europe, America), since it is historically-long-insular low-population subgroup living within a large population.
- jrumbut 9y agoWhether Jews (like myself) are an ethnicity/religion/culture/nation/etc is a complicated question with a lot of strong feelings involved. These Wikipedia articles have a lot of good material for those who aren't aware: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_peoplehood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_peoplehood and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_is_a_Jew%3F https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_is_a_Jew%3F
- Cyph0n 9y agoI think it's a similar quandary with Arabs, minus the shared religion of course. I'm Tunisian and I consider myself Arab, but many other Tunisians consider themselves (ethnically) Maghrebi and/or Amazigh. Tunisia and the remaining Maghrebi countries are part of the Arab League, though. I'm sure it's even more complicated for Tunisian Jews :P
- ocschwar 9y agoComplicated in a good way, because so many Tunisians committed to building a country for all Tunisians. For Lybian Jews, it's not complicated at all.
- Cyph0n 9y agoOf course! I'm definitely proud of the heritage I share with my fellow Tunisians of Jewish faith.
- bzbarsky 9y agoEven, in Tunisia, to quote Wikipedia: "In 1948 the Jewish population was an estimated 105,000, but by 2013 only about 900 remained"... That said, the 2014 Tunisian constitution and its protections for freedom of religion was a huge step forward, and gives me a good bit of hope for the future.
- 220V_USKettle 9y agoDo you have a good Tunisian tuna sandwich recipe? I recently had the opportunity to try one a few months ago. So good.
- pavelrub 9y agoWhat a bizarre comment. Saying "Jews, in general, aren't an ethnicity" is almost an oxymoron - for it is precisely the identity shared between this group of people, that justifies the existence of words such as "Jews". There is an evident sense of shared identity between different populations of Jews, based on common history, culture, customs and traditions - this is the very definition of ethnicity, and this why we refer to all of them as "Jews".
- kurthr 9y agoThat's an interesting interpretation. I assume you mean as decendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? I had never considered Catholics or christianity an ethnic group. Because to me it implied shared genetic features.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- pavelrub 9y agoYou are confusing Judaism - the religion, with the Jewish people - an ethnorelegious group. Many modern Jews are atheists - they certainly don't believe in Judaism, yet nobody would doubt that they are Jewish, nor would they deny this themselves. Similarly - a Jew can become a christian or a muslim yet ethnically still remain a Jew. The same cannot be said about christians or muslims.
- spike021 9y ago>a Jew can become a christian or a muslim yet ethnically still remain a Jew I completely agree with your comment, and not only that but also find your view on the quote interesting as well. A lot of Jews would say that any Jew who becomes a Christian is no longer Jewish (by ethnicity or religion) even if said "Jewish Christian" still abides by and observes many Jewish customs and holidays.
- User23 9y ago
- avip 9y agoYou goyim have no heart. All you want is lehashpil otanu.
- a_tractor 9y agoMetate chadash metate tov!